Album Notes

"State Of The Union", Medicine Hat’s third independently produced record in as many years, continues to reflect the band’s penchant for diversity, but, in doing so, the band has put together its most cohesive and ambitious work to date. Musically, the album is occasionally a bit of a cross between the grittiness of the classic era of The Rolling Stones along with the soulful grooves of Traffic. To be sure, SOTU is something of a loose concept album—not in the grandiose linear style of say, a Pete Townsend composition, but in more of a general thematic endeavor. The record weaves in and out of American issues, as it both rejects and embraces many of the ideals that make us all “Americans”. It blasts the foreboding marriage between the Republican Party and the Catholic Church (“Bible Belt”), pokes fun at the collective paranoia surrounding immigration (“Ticket To Mexico”), and reaffirms the strength of non-jingoistic unity (“Traitors and Patriots”), to list just a few of the band’s forays into American commentary. All the while, Medicine Hat melds finely crafted songwriting with top-notch musical performances, and even offers up what is probably the group’s finest and most radio-ready track to date in the form of the Beatle-esque “Let The Sun In”.

A cerebral album that doesn’t pander to the listener, but is most inviting none the less, State Of The Union is sure to catch the fancy of both the discernable music fan and critics alike in the days and months ahead…

"Maybe one of the best and most REAL indie albums of 2006."
-William "Chops" McGee, critic